Tuesday, February 28, 2012

10:24 AM

Tea Party groups that combined to form the "Verify the Recall" effort have counted 819,233 unique signature lines on the Walker recall petitions, a spokesman said, short of the 1 million recall organizers said they turned in.

A Dem Party spokesman questioned the validity of the groups' efforts.

Though Gov. Scott Walker declined to challenge any of the signatures filed against him, his campaign has asked the GAB to consider anything collected by the Verify the Recall effort as a challenge to the petitions. The GAB has noted it cannot accept third-party challenges to recall petitions; only officeholders are allowed to file those.

Larry Gamble, a spokesman with the GrandSons of Liberty that's part of the Verify the Recall effort, said the group has so far identified some 55,000 signatures that are incomplete or illegible, outside the required time frame, from out of state or duplicates. It has also flagged an additional 228,940 for further review.

Gamble said the 228,940 flagged for further review include signatures that have questionable names, but a legitimate address.

Gamble added the group hoped to complete its review in time for the GAB to review its findings before meeting in mid-March to decide whether to certify the recall elections.

“They’ve said that while we can’t file a challenge, they’re interested in seeing what we can provide,” Gamble said. “We want to be able to give our information to them in a manner that is useful for them.”

Dem Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski questioned the validity of the Verify the Vote review of the petitions.

“Time and again, we've seen claims made by Scott Walker and his Tea Party extremists that do not stand up to the most basic scrutiny,” he said. “Their entire effort is informed by bad faith.”